Denver Teen Shot; Protests Ignite as Family, Friends Demand Answers

The police shooting death of a Denver teen sparked a protest this week as 17-year-old Jessica Hernandez's family and friends, along with local clergy members and activists, stormed the district attorney's office.

The shooting immediately set off a firestorm of controversy as the teen's loved ones decried the incident, asking how an officer could open fire on an unarmed suspect.

The protests reached a boiling point Tuesday when community activists and family members showed up at the office of district attorney Mitch Morrisey demanding answers and asking for police to reveal the details surrounding the shooting.

Denver community activists, like Terrence Hughes, vice president of the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance, said there are too many questions still left unanswered.

"We want to know what the probable cause was of this shooting," Hughes said, according to CPR.

Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson told the Denver Post, though, that the case remains under investigation and more information will be announced as it progresses.

"We're not going to trickle out the facts of the case," Jackson said to the newspaper. "We're going to be transparent and will release information when we can."

The city's independent monitor, Nick Mitchell, said in a statement this week that he will look at the police department's policies, practices, and training in the wake of the Hernandez case and three other police shootings and compare them to national standards at other police departments across the country, the Post noted.

"Shootings involving moving vehicles pose unique potential safety risks to both officers and the community," Mitchell said in his statement.

The police shooting death of a Denver teen sparked a protest this week as 17-year-old Jessica Hernandez's family and friends, along with local clergy members and activists, stormed the district attorney's office.